Three To Tango?

Posted on Mon May 30th, 2022 @ 4:48pm by Lieutenant Commander Felicie Rivero & Captain Liarra Von & Lieutenant JG Mina Altair

Mission: The Archan Job
Location: Station Operations Center

ON:

It was another day in the life of Starbase 332. The normal tempo of operations was underway, the chatter of the flight operations controllers audible for those who paid attention to them, but otherwise just noise in the background of the large room that served as the brain of the station. A smattering of red uniforms, some gold uniforms of engineers and operations officers, even a sprinkle of blue uniforms designating the security personnel assigned to the floor. The picturesque image of a starbase operations center.

The door slid open, as it did on a regular basis, but only two officers exited the turbolift and onto the floor, both wearing red uniforms. The first one wore only the pip and a half of a junior grade Lieutenant and was moderately tall, bright blonde hair long enough to have been loosely braided and put into a pattern that covered her neck, dark blue eyes searching the room even as she led the other woman by perhaps half a step, virtually no expression evident on her face. Satisfied with her findings, she angled herself slight and used a voice meant for her companion alone, "Admiral, the Captain is over near Flight Ops."

"I understand your frustration, Captain, but I assure you my people are doing everything they can," Von stated to the face on the screen in front of her. An exhausted looking controller sat near by, trying desperately not to make eye contact with the irate freighter captain currently arguing with Captain Von. "I can get you a berth for now, but you'll have to wait until a maintenance bay is free if you want a full baryon sweep."

"That is not acceptable, Captain. I have a time table to keep."

"I'm sure you do. But so does everyone else. And everyone's schedule is more important than everyone else's." Liarra stood up straight and put her hands at her hips. "I'm not going to half-ass another ship's maintenance because you're too impatient to wait. Now you can either wait until I have an open bay, or you can let my dock controller know that you're ready to leave."

The freighter captain let out a huff as he hit the close channel but on his console. His face disappeared from the screen, and the dock controller let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know how you deal with them, ma'am."

"The trick, ensign," Liarra said with a slight grin, "is remembering that we're a lot bigger than they are." Von gave the young man a pat on the shoulder before turning to head back to her office. But as she started to leave, she spotted the newcomers coming her way.

Mina was leading the Admiral over, eyes constantly shifting around as she picked her way past officers in the midst of their work, deftly avoiding the ones in motion. As she approached the Captain, her hands went behind her back to clasp together casually and she nodded respectfully as she fell in beside the Admiral, "Captain." She acknowledged the officer with five pips without any inflection on her voice.

Niamh nodded and offered a smile toward Von. "Fleet Captain Von," she said politely. "It's nice to see you again Liarra."

"Admiral Devane," Von answered, a look of slight confusion on her face. "What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting any visits. What brings you out to our neck of the Beta Quadrant?"

Niamh glanced at the faces that were watching them expectantly. "Perhaps we could go somewhere quieter to talk?" she suggested. "Perhaps somewhere with a replicator? I'd trade your yacht to the Ferengi for a decent chai latte," she added with a grin.

Liarra gestured towards the double transparent aluminum doors to the side of Ops. "We can talk in my office. I have a replicator," she replied, adding a grin of her own. She led the other two women to her office. Walking past both her sofa and desk, Von approached the replicator. "Please, make yourselves at home. Computer, one chai latte." She handed the admiral her drink. "Can I get you anything, Lieutenant?"

For a bare moment, Mina almost refused, but knew that protocol would demand that she accept the offer, but she absolutely wouldn't seat herself until both the Admiral and the Captain were seated. "Coffee please, ma'am, cream and sugar if possible." Her Australian accent was obvious now that she'd spoken more than one word.

"Coffee with cream and sugar," Liarra said into the replicator. Once the drink had materialized, she followed it up with an order of her own, her usual caramel cappuccino.

Niamh took a seat on the sofa and accepted the cup gratefully, holding it up to her lips and inhaling deeply before taking a sip, sighing contentedly. "Again, Captain, I apologise for the unexpected intrusion. I made the last minute decision to escort Lieutenant Altair myself and introduce her personally. Lieutenant Altair is from Internal Affairs and will be assigned to Starbase 332 for the foreseeable future."

Liarra handed Lieutenant Altair her coffee before taking a seat next to Devane. For a moment she was taken aback enough that she didn't greet Altair properly. "Internal Affairs? Is there a problem, Admiral?"

Mina wrapped her hands around the cup as she leaned forward in the seat, "Why, Captain, you don't have a guilty conscience about something, do you?" Her eyes showed nothing in them, the words themselves were bland, not accusatory or anything.

"Lieutenant!" Niamh admonished sharply. "Hold your tongue or step outside. Fleet Captain Von is a higher ranking officer and that demands your respect," her tone was slightly harsher than she would normally speak.

Finally, turning to address Von, Niamh's expression softened. "Liarra," she said gently, opting for familiarity. "I've heard whispers that Lowe is unhappy with the fact the court martial against you was overturned. There's some indicators that he may be gunning for a second run at you. Mina is here as an observer, that's all."

Von couldn't help but be taken aback by the lieutenant's response, though she tried her best to keep it from showing. Admiral Devane's response did provide some reassurance, but the memory of General Lowe's attempt to string her up on trumped up charges was fresh on her mind. While he wasn't able to make any of the charges stick, it did make her think. Could he have been right? Was she really as negligent as he had said? Ever since Lowe had visited the station, her brain was a never ending stream of what ifs and second guesses of all of her decisions. If she had nothing to hide, then she shouldn't have been worried about Altair's presence on the station. But if she was truly negligent, then perhaps she didn't know what she might have been hiding. "I'd be lying if I said I was excited for another round with the General. If Lieutenant Altair's presence will help with that, then I'm glad she's here," Liarra replied, hoping that the statement sounded more sincere out loud than it did in her head.

"Of course, ma'am. My apologies, Captain, I was a little... Zealous, call it? I look for all information when I'm an observer, good or ill." Mina's mouth quirked up slightly at the edges, her attempt at a reassuring smile, "You can never have too much information. And if you should need me for anything, I'll be pleased to place myself at your service, ma'am."

"You may leave Lieutenant," Niamh dismissed Mina abruptly. "I wish to speak to Captain Von. You may wait outside until I'm finished."

"Yes, ma'am." Mina immediately stood and placed her half-full cup of coffee down on the table, giving a slight bow to the Captain and Admiral, "It's been a pleasure meeting you, Captain Von, I look forward to working with you." And she made her way out the door.

"Likewise, Lieutenant," Liarra said to Altair as she departed the office. Once she had left, Von turned to the admiral to attend to whatever business was next on her mind.

Niamh remained quiet for a moment. "She means well and I assure you, she's quite good at her job. If she gives you any grief, just let me know and I can deal with it," the Admiral commented. "I want someone I know and trust on the ground. I'll be honest, this situation with Lowe leaves me very unsettled. The aggressiveness he's pursuing you with is, well," she inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly before giving a quick shake of her head. "He has a vendetta and he has fixed you in his sights. Tread carefully Captain."

"You don't have to worry about that, Admiral," Von replied softly. "The General's aggressiveness has caused me to consider everything I do more carefully. I'm well aware of how many eyes I have on me and this station right now."

"Let's hope most of them remain friendly," Niahm said quietly, standing up from her seat. "I'm sure everything will be fine, there will be nothing to worry about. Now, if you will excuse me Captain, I have Captain Fidel waiting for me at docking port twenty three. He's quite anxious to depart as soon as possible. Please, keep me updated on how things are going."

Liarra rose to her feet alongside the admiral. "Of course, Admiral. Don't let me keep you. If there are any issues, you'll be the first to know."